Google Hood

Google is seen now a days as the modern Robin Hood. Poetically speaking, Google (the hero) rescues news from online newspapers, which oblige us (the peasantry) to pay for, and gives them to us for free. War is inevitably served.

Google includes links to online newspapers and magazines every time a searcher types a word on its Google search tool.

Take for instance the word “Chávez”. Whenever we type that word in our Google search bar we get thousands of links to any newspapers which is covering and has published any article about Chávez. 

The two main arguments pun on court are the following:

Many times whenever we click on these links to specific articles we get redirected to the main news, which are often of payment. But thanks to the legal abysm Google enjoys, we get into the complete article through the “back door” without paying for it: Google search provides us with the key. Also, online newspapers claim that Google profits from including ads in its search results and that they therefore loose money from advertisement in their news websites. This is senseless.

It all comes to mutual subsistence: Google needs the news to give an efficient online search service, while those online newspapers which provide the information get a higher traffic and visualization whenever a user clicks on Google’s link to their web page.

Many countries have accused Google of violating each author and editor’s copyrights, as the information is exposed without their consent. Google is not paying those writers for including their content on Google News. But this is not true. Why should Google pay for information it doesn’t own? It just redirects Internet surfers to the main source of material. I understand the position of the online newspapers whose revenues on advertising are declining because all go to Google and whose only source of profit comes from article payment.

Yet there is a possible solution.

Google should respect online newspapers’ decision to charge users for their news, while still redirecting to their sites because this is beneficial for them. Furthermore online newspapers and magazines should renew their strategy regarding advertisement so that they come to an equilibrium point.

Google is also a company, and as a company its main goal is to make money. But money out of things they own, not out of things they publicize.  



M., Digital Literacy